Roger Federer cruises to second round victory in Cincinnati

Roger Federer eased to a 6-4 6-4 win over Peter Gojowzcyk in the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Federer, back on court after his quarter-final defeat at Wimbledon, appeared nervy in his opening service game, Gojowzcyk failing to convert two break points, but the number-two seed soon found his rhythm to serve out the set.

The 37-year-old’s confidence grew from there, serving out to love at 4-2 in the second set and again in the final game, needing just one match point to seal the victory in 72 minutes.

Number 15 seed Nick Kyrgios overcame a knee problem in his first-round match against American Denis Kudla as the Australian, having initially forgotten to take his trainers on court, battled through 6-7 (2/7) 7-5 7-6 (11/9) in just over two hours.

There was, though, no such problems for David Goffin. The 11th-seeded Belgian recorded a 7-5 6-3 win over Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had produced such a memorable run to the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

Dominic Thiem, the eighth seed, withdrew with illness and was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Elsewhere, there were also first-round wins for Canada’s Milos Raonic, Dutchman Robin Haase and veteran German Mischa Zverev.

American Jack Sock, though, saw his hopes ended by a 2-6 6-1 6-2 defeat against Hyeon Chung of South Korea.

Meanwhile, Croatian Coric also put an end to Federer’s 20-match winning run on grass and was proud of his achievement.

“It’s been an unbelievable week for me,” he said.

“I came here to just get a few matches before Wimbledon.

“I never imagined reaching the final and beating Roger. It’s an honour just to share the court with him, it’s so special, I’ve always looked up to him and I remember watching him play with my parents – now I’m playing him.”